Category Archives: Renovation Ideas

As with almost every home that is for sale in Tenafly and elsewhere in Easter Bergen County, buyers have to approach the purchase with the understanding that they’re going to have to spend additional money to renovate the home. You can’t possibly purchase a 30-100 without it needing a major makeover.

Here’s a sexy bathroom design that I came across recently that would be a great look for any home needing a bathroom renovation.

Sleek yet elegant, modern yet timeless.

Bathrooms are where to spend your money…and you don’t have to spend a fortune to get this look…but even if you did it’s worth the investment

The color combinations and elements make this an invigorating place to start your day and to leave you with a relaxing feeling at the end of the night.

I can almost sense the spa-like fragrance when looking at these photos

the color combination of the dark wood vanity and mirror surround and green glass long subway tiles is a great match. And even though I’m no longer a fan of beige tiles I’m sure it looks great on the floor

The full height glass showers with the chrome hinges and super long door handle adds a modern and strong feel

I love the 5′ + high frosted glass to add a bit of privacy

the extra thick counter tops with integrated deep sinks and modern faucets is a great look to top off the sleek vanity that sits off of the floor about 18″…which adds to the visual depth of the room

The pin lighting in the ceiling is a great look compared to the standard, and over abused typical high hat lighting

This design and materials can be integrated into any sized bathroom renovation for a great look.

If you’re looking to buy, sell, build, design, renovate or decorate a home in Tenafly and Alpine, New Jersey (or anywhere else in Bergen County for that matter), then you have to get yourself over to the Architectural Digest, Home Design Show at Pier 94…55th St at 12th Ave.

The show takes place March 22-24th

This is the place to go to check out all the products and services, that you may very well want to include in your home…and to steal some of the best design ideas that you could ever imagine.

Sexy showers by design…it’s all about the fantasy

There’s no denying that we dream up showers and bath suites with one think in mind…sex. And we design some of them large enough…just for the fantasy…of what could happen, if the fantasy ever becomes reality…and that’s exactly what great designers work to accomplish in these luxurious spaces.

Here are five designers who created some amazing…and sexy bath suites that I found on houzz.com.

As with most of my post, there’s always a marketing twist to it, and this one is no different. Realtors take note of the great photography, lighting and staging of the pictures (and there’s even some Photoshop involved). These folks were after the WOW FACTOR, and they achieved it…and this is what sellers need as well. This is what creates value…and a love connection. It’s all about marketing.

Using your imagination and the right designer could turn you bathroom in Tenafly, into your favorite and most talked about spot in your home.

If you’re looking for some fantastic ideas how to use your outside space as a continuation of your homes interior, then Schmechtig Landscapes is a goldmine of ideas.

What a find…great pictures and incredible videos provide home owners with a a wonderful and unusual perspective of what you can do to create some really remarkable spaces.

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Sure, some of the overall items are expensive as a package. But you can cherry pick any of these ideas and incorporate them into your own mini project. And every one of these ideas will add value to your home…so it’s not a waste of money…the WOW factor never is.

And remember, it’s not just the items that go into creating eye appealing spaces…don’t forget about varying textures of materials, colors of plantings and different levels of the plantings heights and setbacks.

This is the stuff that sets an artist way above someone who just plants things.

This is a class act.

And with everything I post, there’s always a huge marketing component and opportunity that needs to be pointed out.

If you want to grab a buyers attention…sell your home faster, and for it’s optimum price, then these are some of the things that you HAVE to do…or get you Realtor to do. These are the tools that can help attain the value you want for your home. Its’ real estate marketing on steroids, and this is what buyers look for.

If this is what someone does to market their landscape design business…and their work, then why aren’t agents marketing their listings (your home) to these standards? If as Realtors love to point out …buying a home is the most expensive and emotional purchase of your lifetime…then why shouldn’t homes be marketed with that in mind

It’s The Secret To Selling Your Home

Note: Sorry that Schmechtig Landscapes is located in Chicago, but sometimes you have to go outside your area to find something spectacular.

Here are some great design ideas that can help make your home in Tenafly, or anywhere else, into your special dream home.

Note: I’ve had these pictures on my desktop for quite some time, and I didn’t write down who the designers are. In the future I’ll be providing the contact info for those who have created these beautiful spaces.

These are their ideas…I just found them and am passing them along to you for your enjoyment

this is a great idea for those of you who may be contemplating doing a room in your home at the Hampton’s or on LBISee how many unique design features you can find in this wonderful room. I love it!

The biggest problem people face when trying to buy or sell a home is the lack of quality marketing.

Your home isn’t being marketed…it’s only being listed!

When this is your best marketing strategy, you have a problem

A listing is not marketing:

Marketing differentiates your home, and allows viewers to see why it’s so special

Marketing creates excitement

Marketing adds value

Marketing creates a memorable impression

Marketing creates a faster sales cycle

Marketing makes your home stand out from the crowd

Marketing creates a love connection

Web listings accomplish none of this. They’re nothing more than today’s online classified ads…and they’re free.If they did work, then these companies could charge us a fortune to place the ads, and we we’d all happily pay the price.

Nothing free has any value

For years, when the market was flying high we could get away with doing nothing: Homes were sold within minutes, or days after being listed for sale…or even before. Most homes had multiple offers ABOVE list price…and every home from the ugliest to worst built home, on the worst street…sold without even trying.

Those days are gone! And it’s not coming back to that extreme for a really long time.

As a recovering builder, I look at the business of trying to sell homes, from a different perspective. Typical real estate marketing never worked for me, even in great markets. Left to the typical approach, my homes took longer to sell than they should have, and they sold for less than they should have.

But the major obstacle that sellers face when trying to sell their homes in Tenafly (or anywhere else), when the market, is like it is now…is that your home is still being listed (trying to be sold), the SAME EXACT WAY it was during the high flying times.

You can’t possibly be successful trying to sell your home…in a reasonable time frame and for it’s optimum price…in a horrible economy, as agents did when the housing market was the hottest market in your lifetime.

It doesn’t work. But that’s what Realtors are doing. Nothing has changed for them.

Does it work to have the same ineffective listing plastered in the same places, that everyone else places their equally crappy listings? Nope!

It’s all about doing some great marketing, and doing everything that agents should be doing, but won’t.

They’ll argue till their last breath that marketing your home doesn’t work.

And all I have to say is…Yea sure!

Throughout many decades of building homes and developing large scale projects, I can tell you from my experience…great marketing works. And for those who argue that it doesn’t…they just don’t want to spend the money, and make the effort that it takes to make it happen.

Eventually your home will sell. But how long it takes, and the price it sells for is a product of marketing…or a lack of marketing, and waiting for luck.

I recently came across this post…Fabulous Fireplaces Heat Up the Modern Home…on houzz.com, and even though we’re into the spring season, I thought this wouls be of interest to those people who are considering a renovation to their home in Tenafly. Yes, you can even use some of these ideas if you live in Cresskill or Closter…I won’t get upset.

To get the ball rolling, here’s a fireplace that I built in one of my homes in Tamcrest Estates